Falling Sun
by RainingOwl
Summary: Andie has lived in La Push her entire life, having everything she has ever wanted. When things turn for the worst, and she starts loosing grip on her life and something she never knew she wanted, everything changes. (This starts at the beginning of New Moon)
1. Chapter 1

The ocean curls around my toes, as I walk down the beach. Why does sand squishing between your toes feel so good? I may be a little biased. Okay maybe a lot. I love the beach. I've lived on the coast my entire life. I couldn't see myself living anywhere else. The waves crashing together in the beautiful chaos, rolling onto the sand, never ceases to take my breath away.

As I walk down the beach, I breathe in the fresh, salty air. _Hmmm,_ today has been a great day. Too good of a day. The kind of day you never want to end. It was simple, a breath of fresh air to my system.

I had missed my friends, and Jake's garage terribly. I couldn't do anything all summer, thanks to _Paul._ I know he was just mad, and looking out for me. But lying to have Mom ground me, was too far.

When he turned into a wolf, he found out the truth about the Cullens. Safe to say he freaked out, causing our biggest fight on record. He accused me of knowing about the Cullen's secret. Since Edward could never tell me, I had no idea what Paul was talking about. So in an attempt to keep me away from Edward, Paul decided to tell Mom that I was drinking and partying, to ground me. I don't know how it worked I've always been vehemently anti drugs and alcohol. Well, It worked. And I found about Edward.

Being grounded, I couldn't do anything. I did get to catch up on my composition, and I read a couple of good books. But what's the point of writing when I couldn't even show Edward? Although, we did stop hanging out as much as we used to since he found Bella. Regardless, I'm happy for him. I guess I learned how to not lean on his expertise in music. But, I missed him. I still miss him.

Luckily I have the most annoying, stubborn friends on the planet. Quil, Embry, and Jake all showed up to my house this morning to save me from my imprisonment. They decided to take it in their own hands to convince my mom that I served enough time. I swear if Mom didn't answer the door a second to late, they were going to break the door down.

After they all doggy piled on me to get me out of bed this morning, we went for breakfast at our favorite diner. As we finished, Jake was almost jumping in his seat to show me his new project he got over the summer.

When we got to the garage, we worked on the jeep for awhile and Jake's new project; the Rabbit. That Rabbit is beautiful. I can't wait to work on it some more. I'll admit, I am a little jealous Jake found that beauty at the junkyard, but i'll never admit that too him.

 _Oh, Jake._ The never ending feud of one upping eachother never seems to end. SInce we were little we always seemed to have to prove ourselves to each other, even though we were always joking. In reality, we don't have too.

We all mess with each other. It's really funny when Quil and Embry start to gang up on Jake-

"Andie!" I snapped my attention away from the sand to the husky voice calling my name.

I wave at Quil and Jake running toward me on the beach.

"What's up, sis?" Quil says, as they both reach me.

"Just walking the beach before I have to go home. I've missed it." I say through a smile from ear to ear.

"I think it has missed you, too!" Jake says.

Before I could turn my head to look at Jake to see what he was doing, he already scooped me up and ran with me like a sack of potatoes.

"Don't you dare, Jake!" I screamed, hitting his back with my fists.

I could feel the splashes of cold water on my arms and legs, as he ran deeper and deeper into the water.

"You're going to pay for this!" A laugh escaped, revealing my false attempts to sound mad.

"Sure, sure." I could hear the smirk on his face, making me laugh harder.

How could I be mad right now, I was having a great day. I did want to go for a swim soon. So Jake was just making come sooner than I expected.

I could feel Jake's large hands move to my waist, pulling me forward onto his hard chest as he ran.

Quiet and stillness consumed me.

He stopped moving me as I got to his eye level. There was a crazed excitement in his eyes that extended down to his wide smile.

Jake's smile was his best feature. He is always smiling, no matter what. He is such a happy person and it comes out in his smile. It is truly infectious to everyone around him. When that smile is directed to you it knocks you off your feet, sending you to cloud 9. There's nothing you can do, other than smile back.

I couldn't help smiling back at him, I was yet another victim.

All in a couple of seconds that felt like minutes, Jake was diving down in the water, toting me along with him.

Getting out one final scream before I went under.

The water is a shock to my system. My muscles seize in response to the cold.

 _It feels so good._

Before I know it, Jake is hauling me to the surface by the waist. They never left their post.

I take one big gulp of air when I get to the surface, before I loose it. I can't stop laughing, looking at Jake with all the hair in his face. He moves his hands to clear his face.

"Jake got you!" I look over Jake's shoulder to see Quil laughing on the ground at us.

I turn back to Jake and wink, mouthing "Watch".

I slowly get out of the water, Jake on my tail.

I open my arms wide for Quil. "Quilly," I say tauntingly and grab him getting him wet as possible.

"Aww come on! But hey, didn't know you felt that way." He says with a wink.

"Gross." I roll my eyes, as I try to escape his arms. Making him hold tighter.

I finally get the upperhand and push myself out of his grasp.

A sudden tremble runs through me. _Brrr, it's cold._ The sun was setting along the horizon. The summer heat leaving with it.

"Let's go to my house to dry off." Jake suggested.

I take the offer immediately, nodding my head.

"Our first day of school is tomorrow, we should get going." A common grimace showed on all our faces.

...

 _BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!_

I roll over to turn my alarm off. Why does an alarm have to be the worst sound ever?

I get up and head to the bathroom, to get ready. Of course I have the world's worst bags under my eyes on the first day of school. I wash my face, and decide to put some mascara on and some concealer on the dark rings around my eyes. Can't hurt to try for the first day.

I pick out my favorite jeans and flannel to wear. I match the outfit with a pair of short, light brown boots.

As I head down the stairs I start to get anxious. A tight ball forms in the base of my stomach. Anxiety always finds its way to me. I head to the fridge to grab something to eat, in the hopes that will help. I look into Paul's room to see if he's home yet from patrol. Ever since I found out, I worry a lot about him nowadays. More so than before, when he just had anger issues. Having your big bro turn into a giant wolf, when he gets mad at you, is quite a shock.

It's his first day of senior year, he should be home. We always drive together on the first day.

Sam better not be keeping him from school. I'll need to talk to him about that.

Realizing that he isn't coming home, I grab my phone and text Embry: _hey could u pick me up? Paul ditched_

I really don't want to walk, hope I texted him soon enough.

While I'm grabbing an apple, I hear a car pull up and honk a few too many times.

Before the horn stopped, I was out to door. I spot Embry's Geo. _Thank you, Embry._ When I spot Embry, I see Jake and Quil got a ride too. Embry got his license first, so he's our taxi for now.

Jake gets out of the passenger seat to let me into the backseat next to quil.

"Hey guys!" I said with a big smile. I still miss them a lot, yesterday wasn't enough.

I'm only outgoing with them, if I'm not with them I tend to blur into the background.

A collective "hey" was said by all 3 boys. They sounded dead.

Embry put the car in gear, heading to school.

Everyone was pretty quiet on the ride to school, it was the earliest they have been up all summer I'm guessing. I wasn't the only one sporting the dark, purple bags under my eyes.

I dont think Im ready for school. So much has happened over the summer, it's going to be hard to act normal. My life is anything but normal lately. The only thing that has stayed the same is with these boys in the car with me. They've been my best friends since I was a baby. Our moms were great friends in the tribe, we all grew up together like they did. Our moms were together probably as much as we are now.

That all changed when Sarah, Jacob's mom, died. The tribe was devastated, our moms especially. They still hang out, but not like they used to in the good ole days.

Quil snapped in front of my face, "You can come back to Earth now." moving his face a little too close to my hair.

"Ha Ha I'm back now." I mocked him, pushing his face away.

"Aw c'mon baby, don't push me away." He said in a voice trying to sound sexy.

Some things never change, Quil's overbearing flirting personality, will probably always be one of them.

"Keep dreaming baby." I say sweetly. I swear I see take a gulp when I said baby _._

Jake and Embry are laughing in the from, "You can call me baby anytime," before I start to yell at Embry he goes, "Quilly." The car burst with laughter.

We just drove into the parking lot, so everyone is probably staring. Were laughing way too loud, although, I don't care. Never really have cared what people think about me.

Being a light skinned native is enough for peers to poke jabs at me. Going to the white people school for the music program, it's almost a given. I had to switch to the rez school this year, it was Paul's idea since I was such a bad kid. I'll get him back for all this one day.

Embry parks the car in the first open space, we all start to spill out.

"Remind me to steal the front seat from you, Quil might have a broken nose next time." I squeeze me nose up, like I always do when I'm trying to get what I want.

"Maybe. That might be fun to see though." He says with a crooked smile. He shuts the door behind him as we all walk to class.

I jab him in the ribs with my elbow, a shocked expression on my face. "Who knows, you might be first."

"Sure, sure." He says his tell tale saying.

Embry comes up alongside me to join the conversation, "Do you think the geo drove all right? I turned it last night." All seriousness in his voice. One way to get these boys to be mature or talk like they know what's going on in the world is to bring up cars.

"Yeah it was smoothe, Embry." I say as a matter of fact, making him confident I'm telling the truth.

I side hug him as we walk, I only saw him for a couple of hours yesterday. It's nice with Embry, you don't have to make any kind of effort. You don't have to talk, you don't have to pretend, you just exist. He calm in a way that's not demanding. I'm at a temporary peace when I am with him.

He hugs me back laying his long arm across my shoulders.

"How are you?" He says quietly, looking down at me.

"A little nervous." I say, as I laugh a little unsteady. I hug him a little tighter.

"You'll be fine, I think we'll have some classes together too." He says with a reassuring smile.

We're almost to the building, Embry starts to pull his arm off me.

"Me and Quil's first class is this way." He points to the left down the outside hallway.

"Okay, I'll see you later." I say as Embry and Quil start walking away.

Great, now I have to try to find the office to get my schedule.

I turn to Jake as he's about to leave, "Where's the office?" I say in a lost glance. There's kids everywhere and I have no idea where anything is.

Jake starts to laugh and comes back up to me and tells me to come with him. He opens the door for into the building. All the lockers are along this hallway, and looks like a few rooms are in here too. I look to Jake as he sets his hand on the small of my back to lead me through the kids.

I don't know how I just noticed, Jake grew a lot over summer. He had to of grown at least 3 or 4 inches. His height wasn't the only thing that grew, his shoulders got wider, and his biceps got bigger. All the kids around him looked small. In the sea of the crowd he towered over everyone our age.

"Go this way." he leans over my shoulder and points, so I can see where he points. Now I really notice his biceps. They're _huge,_ compared to 2 months ago _._

"Jake, when did you start to work out?" I say with a little amusement in my voice.

"I don't workout." He says with his bright smile, holding in a laugh.

"Oh, BS, you're trying to catch up to me, you won't admit it!" I workout a lot, I like being active, any kind of physical activity is fun for me. Playing sports is a big part of my life, aside from music.

"Yeah right, you're not even swole," He jokes. He comes around to the side of me, he's wearing a short sleeve, black t-shirt and lifts up his sleeve and flexes, "Now this is swole." He says trying to be arrogant.

I roll my eyes at him trying to be a douchebag. That is not in Jake's persona, he was always to happy and nice to come off as a arrogant douchebag. _Nice try, Jake._

As he pulls down his sleeve, I see two girls across the hall looking at us, no looking at Jake with googly heart eyes.

Seems I'm not the only one who's noticed Jakes transformation over the summer.

Just as he puts his arm over my shoulders, since there's room to walk next to me in the hall now, the girl's expression changed from ogling all over Jake to full blown scowl towards me.

Why are they glaring at me?

I look up at Jake to see if something's wrong, I find he's smiling down at me. There's a good 6in between us now.

He's cocking his head questioning why I stopped walking, and it hits me.

They think him and I, are like, _together?_ They like him and I'm walking with him. Of course they're not going to like me. They are typical high school girls. I never really understand how girls can be like that. But they don't like me for some reason that's obvious.

I forget about it, and start walking with Jake to the office. Right as we are going through the office door, I hear one of the girls say, "Skank." quietly in a malicious tone. Looks like Jake didn't hear it, that's good. I don't want him worrying about me here.

All I can think about is wanting to go home. What a great start to my first day.

 _Hi! This is my first story, so please review to let me know how you like it! If there are any suggestions or improvements please let me know_ :-)


	2. Chapter 2

Jake and I end up having first period Biology together. The girls trumped what little confidence I had left. Why am I here? I don't belong here, like I never belonged in the tribe. It's going to be the same as it was last time. Years and years of taunts starts to come up to the surface. I've buried those years deep. I have always tried to stay as positive as I can. Kids do those kinds of things, most of the time they don't remember what they did years later anyways. It wasn't their fault for saying what everyone was thinking.

No matter how hard I'm trying to forget about it, I can't. I'm on the edge of losing it, I can feel it. We are almost to class, I can't start this right now. _Calm down_ , I keep telling myself. _Everything's going to be fine_.

In the midst of having an internal battle with myself, I notice we stopped walking in the hall. I'm looking forward, while Jake's looking at me. There's no one in the hallway anymore. Everyone's in class. Just us left.

Jake can feel me freaking out, I know it. He's hugging me a little tighter. I slowly meet his gaze. There's a soft, admiring, tender look in his eyes. He never misses a thing.

"Everything's going to be okay." He whispers in my ear, as he slowly moves his other arm around me. Jakes hugs are the best hugs, they're safe, warm and always, always, always make you feel better. All things that make Jake who he is. No one can get to me here. That's when I feel my body start to shake, tears rolling down my face. My body letting go of everything that was building inside. I'm too comfortable with Jake, the fear of crying infront of others isn't there with him.

"Shhh, I'm here." He says stroking my hair. _Yeah Jake, that's the problem_. I start to laugh at my consciousness, then I start to laugh at myself. I'm crying in the middle of the hallway outside of class, which had to of started at least 5 minutes ago. _So pathetic, Andie, get it together._

I start to come to my senses, I pull away from Jake's chest. Wet marks from my tears are left on his t shirt. I pull my hands away from the small of his back, pulling them to me, but not without noticing his hard, defined back muscles. I instantly feel my face heat up. _Why did I just think that?_

Jake pulls out a tissue from his backpack for me. Avoiding his gaze, I take the tissue, and start wiping the wetness from my face. There goes the makeup I did today.

"I'm sorry, this is-" Jake cuts me off.

"Don't worry about it, sis." Jakes lopsided smile is on.

"Alright, c'mon." I grab his arm and start walking, I smile even though I really don't want to, but I do at the same time.

Jake grabs the door handle before I reach it, and holds open the door for me. _Here we go._

I walk with Jake into the room. All eyes are on us. Jake walks ahead of me towards the back of the room, there's empty seats in the back row. The teacher is calling names for attendance, luckily, he seems to not have passed my name yet.

I finally get to a seat next to Jake. The awkward part over.

"Aiyana Lahote." The man up front says after a couple of more names were called.

I raise my hand. "It's Andie, please." Eyes follow his gaze to me.

He smiles, the kind of smile your grandpa gives you with his eyes crinkling. "Very well, I will write it down."

He keeps going through the list, then starts the class after he lectures Jake to be on time. syllabus and every other boring thing you do on the first day.

The day goes by slow, 2nd and 3rd period I alone with unfamiliar faces. After 3rd there's lunch, I meet up with the boys at a table in the outskirts of the cafeteria. I'm guessing this is their table. We're all eating our sandwiches from home. A couple jokes get passed around, mostly eating though. These growing boys can eat. I think Embry's on his 3rd sandwich?

I feel quiet. Maybe it was the horrible start to the day, or just being me and zoning out. It's the one thing I can be really self conscious about, not always being someone that brings something to the table at every moment. My quiet trait has never been a bad thing to me, others may feel different about it. What others think of me have never mattered to me much, but I don't like being around those people that are negative and rude.

Speaking of rude people, the brunette girl that called me that ugly name is walking past the table now, with 2 other girls. They are all beautiful. They are definitely the girls at the top of the pecking order here, when they pass by everyone looks. Including Quil, who seems to be drooling. Then again, if any girl walked by he'd be like that.

The girl in the front took notice to our table as they were passing by and started to slow down.

"Hey, guys." She said as she came to a stop, whipping her hair. The whole posy took to her every move, stepping back so her hair didn't hit them. Gahhh, how terrible would that be. Following around a girl, who probably doesn't like any of them.

Quil has already kissed her feet by the looks of it. "Hey, Amanda. Lookin' good today." He winked.

Men are driven by their hormones I swear.

"I know." She said without any shred of doubt. "How was your summer, Jacob?" With Her brightest smile on, she continued on to look at Jake.

Jake looked a little dumbfounded she was talking to him, "Good, just working on my car."

I focused on my food now. It hurts to see how easy it is for some people to be so effortlessly beautiful like her. She's so self assured and flirtation, I'm jealous. I don't think I'm ugly, but I don't think I'm the kind of beautiful that guys like. Having no confidence doesn't help, and no flirting skills for that matter.

I felt a nudge to my left. "What classes do you have?" Clearly Embry can see I don't want anything to do with the current conversation.

I take out my schedule from my pocket, "Bio, art, english, gym, math and then history."

"We have math and history together!" I cracked a smile. Ending the day with Embry won't be so bad.

I heard the conversation stop, I looked over to Quil and Jake to find the girl looking over at Embry and I.

"I don't think I've met you yet, Aiyana right?" She reached out her hand to me. "I'm Amanda." She says with the kind smile. I reach back hesitantly. This girl knows exactly who I am. I recall my name being "skank" to her earlier. I don't know what kind of games shes playing, but it won't work.

I shake her hand. Maybe I misheard her this morning. She might be super nice.

"Yeah, I go by Andie actually." I think I've said that about a million times today.

"Oh, what a shame, that's such a pretty name." She said with a hint of malous. Okay, maybe she doesn't like me? I don't know, this girl is confusing me.

"Andie's a pretty name." Jake said casually, he should he's the one that gave me the nickname.. No one else seems to be getting the underlying riff off her.

 _Andie stop being so damn paranoid._ I really should just let it go, and give the girl a chance.

"Oh, I'm sure it does." Her flirtation singing voice is back on. "What are your plans this friday? There's going to be a back to school party on first beach. You should come." Something tells me that, that invite is for Jake and Jake only.

"Hangin' out with these guys. Could they come?"

"Yeah, everyone's invited. Well, except the pale faces obviously." She briefly looked at me.

 _Ow_ , that kinda stung. Everyone knows I'm friends with the Cullens, that's why everyone looks at me like I'm crazy. I just don't see them the way everyone else does. Even the guys have a hard time understanding why I don't care what everyone says.

Before I knew the _truth,_ I thought it all was a lie, a legend the Cullens simultaneously fell into. Now that I know the truth, my views haven't changed. They are still the same to me. It may have changed for Edward, he may not want to be my friend now that my family has a hate so deep they don't even know where it started.

"Duh, no one wants them there anyways." That was salt to the injury, _thanks Quil._

"I could think of someone." Amanda says under her breath.

Jake tentatively looks over at me, he feels bad I can tell. I mouth "I'm okay" quickly. He rubs my back for a few seconds like he's putting strength in me to get by. Jake turns back to Quil and the girls talking.

Although Jake hates the Cullens just as much as Quil does and everyone else in the tribe, he can't and won't get in between what I love. If he knew the truth he may get a little angry, say I'm stupid or reckless, especially since Edward's with Bella. Jake's in love with Bella. It's cute to see how he is with her, he acts his age, being all goofy and googly eyed. Bella's beautiful I see how he gets that reaction.

All three of us, Jake, Bella and I, used to play as kids, since our parents were friends. Every summer, Bella would come visit Charlie. She stopped visiting when she started middle school. She always said she hated the weather, but she'll never admit the days we spent on the beach in summer. She didn't hate the weather then!

It was nice to see her again when she chose to come back a year ago. Felt like nothing changed. Childhood friends are like that, no matter how long apart, everything stays the same.

Now, I'm officially out of the conversation. I'm not going to be the center of attention in this one. As Amanda gets done talking to the boys, she rests her hand on Jakes bicep as she walks away with a flirty "See you around, Jacob."

She's finally gone and Quil can't contain himself any longer.

"Dude, she is totally into you."

"Really? I don't think so."

"Yeah, really."

"Looks like she's got the hots for you, Jake." I bust with laughter and put my hair behind my ear.

Jake is booming with laughter now. "Whatever guys. Not my type."

"If she ain't your type I don't know what is." Quil looks back after the little trio leaving the cafeteria. "Like c'mon, look at them."

"Way to be more obvious, want some binoculars too?" With all my tension, I need to crack some jokes at Quil. He is too easy.

"Or some water? You look a little thirsty." I look over at Embry laughing.

"Now that's a good one."

I needed a good laugh right now. I'm having a pretty bad day to say the least.

Please review, tell me how you like it! :)

Since I've been behind I finished what I had so far, it seems a little rushed I might do a continued chapter for the next one, not sure yet. We will see.


	3. Chapter 3

Aside from the overall crappy day, I did make a new friend. And she's a girl. As much as I love the guys, some girl time is much needed.

Her name is Kim, and she's probably the nicest girl I've ever met. Since all I ever did as a kid was hangout with the guys on the rez I never made any girlfriends. I had some girlfriends in Forks, but they slowly stopped talking to me over summer. With me not going to school with them, and not being there to be with Edward, I didn't seem as appealing to them anymore.

I'm going to have to find a way to go see him. Maybe today. No better way to kick off my new freedom. After I get home I can tell mom I'm going over to Jake's or Embry's. Or I could say I'm going into town.

I feel giddy, as I walk to the parking lot with the crowd of students, thinking up a plan to see my best friend. Today may end better than I could have hoped for.

My hope was diminished as I spotted Paul, walking along the cars. Ditched me, then isn't even going to ask if I need a ride, or talk to me? Not today.

I rush towards him, pushing him as I get to him. He stumbles for a half a second, regaining his balance faster than anyone can see.

"What the hell?" Paul yells, turning to me, getting in my face. He's shaking a little. His stupid temper always gets the best of him.

"Where have you been? Or do you forget about everything?" I spat. His temper gets the best of me too. It brings out the worst in me, but I don't care right now. He doesn't care about anything, except for his stupid pack now. He never makes time for me anymore.

He's breathing harder and his shape is shaking harder too. I know that I should stop pushing him, but deep down I don't think he would ever hurt me.

"You don't understand anything do you? Everything's always about you isn't it?" Pauls yells at me with a malice I haven't heard him use with me before.

Jared runs up from behind him, stopping at his side. "Calm down, Paul. There's a lot of kids around." Jared sets his hand on his shoulder.

"And you guys aren't?!" How could they even think that they're above everyone here? They're kids. They haven't even graduated high school. They should be trying out for the football team or worried about who they're going to take to the homecoming dance, instead the legacy of protecting the tribe and land is being thrust onto them.

Jared doesn't seemed so pleased with my rebuttal. He slowing turned to look at me. An expression on his face that read 'really Andie?'. He knows I mean well. I wish none of this stupid tribal stuff happened to them. I know they like some of the perks, but all I see is their lives being taken over.

Whatever I or Jared said or did, or somehow he managed to do it on his own, Paul noticeably stopped shaking as bad. He still wore his angry face, that could make anyone scared, directed towards me.

Before I got mad again, I turned around and headed for embry's car. There was no reasoning with him when he got mad. It's always been that way. This wolf thing has only magnified it.

Looking around I saw people glancing over seeing what's going on. _No need people just a younger sister royally pissed off at her older brother, nothing interesting to see here._

Embry and Jake were waiting outside the car watching. They've known something's been up with Paul and I, but of course I can't tell them. They think he's in a gang with Sam Uley.

Sam was the first wolf to turn. Sam's older, he never talked with younger kids until recently, when Jared and Paul turned. That's why people don't know what to think of it. The 3 of them aren't seen separated, hardly ever these days. Since I only know from a default, I can't tell anyone. Sam and Billy's rules. Not even my best friends. The worst part is I can't worn them. In a couple months they'll be next. Jake and Quil have a direct bloodline to the trait from their fathers. Let alone Jake's supposed to be the freaking alpha when he turns. That's the one thing I could never understand. My Jake was so happy and nice all the time. I don't think I've ever seen him lose it once. But Billy is persistent it will happen eventually.

Lost in thought, I get out of the car when jake pulls the seat forward, so I can get out. He hugs me goodbye, "We'll pick you up tomorrow, k?" He says, like its a question he already knows the answer to.

I muster up a smile, "Yeah, that'd be great. Catcha later."

I hurry inside to see if mom is home, I could care less about Paul. He won't like what I'm doing. I grab a quick snack and write a quick note for mom, she isn't home. She insist for us to not call her while shes at work and just to leave a note. The pro to this is she won't be able to tell me no.

It's a little over a mile to the treaty line. And then I'll get picked up.

Surprisingly the weather is nice for a mid-september day. Blue skies with some fluffy clouds here and there. It's a good day for a jog. As I run, my body relaxes, letting go of the strains from today. Running farther than I need, to reaching Forks town limits, I decide to stop to call for a ride.

Finding Edwards name in my phone I press send.

To my disappointment he doesn't answer. He hasn't since July, when I got in more trouble, getting caught talking to him on the phone. He refused to answer since then.

Knowing just who to call, to relish in my rebel ways, I got finished on the phone and ended the call. About 15 minutes later a massive Jeep pulls up. I run to the passenger side and hop in, nearly throwing myself at Emmett for a big hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I always could count on Emmett to be the rule breaker.

"I'm always down for a little fun." He said through a wide smile.

After going the long way to the Cullens through a muddy trail, to go mudding with the jeep. We hooked up to the road to the Cullen house.

"I forgot how much I love this thing!" I pat the dashboard grinning.

"If you came over more, than you wouldn't miss it." Does he not know? I would have thought they all would.

"I wanted to, but-"

"I know, Andie. Don't gotta explain." Flashing his perfect set of sharp, white teeth in a quick reassuring smile.

Relief washed through me, I slumped back in my seat. The corners of my mouth coming up. They know. They know I know, and Emmett is comfortable with bringing me over and hanging out like we used to.

When I came over for the first time with Edward, I nearly fainted at the sight of the garage. So many beautiful cars. Emmett was working on his Jeep, when I was in there. We got to talking about the cars, next thing you know when Edward comes out to drive me home, it's been 3 hours and the Jeep has a new radiator.

Emmett's Jeep is why I bought myself one, for my first car. They're fun to work on, easy too, badass, and super fun!

"The others on the other hand, you might need to talk to."

"What do you mean?"

"They… are a little more skeptical." My relief turned to dread. My anxiety ramps up a notch at the fact I might have to say goodbye to a family I love so much, because they hate me.

"I knew you were always a weird one, but how are you not afraid right now?"

"What should I be afraid of?" Yeah, I am nervous about seeing the Cullens for the first time after them finding out about my family, but I'm not afraid. They'll be honest and I'll respect whatever they have to say.

"You're alone with a vampire, and about to go into a house full of 'em." I have never heard anyone say the word aloud, it's always been "leech" or "bloodsucker". I slightly flinch when he says it. It's like hearing a forbidden word for the first time. Emmett takes notice to my discomfort, even though it only lasted a matter of seconds. He leaned away towards the door, out of courtesy, although it's not necessary.

"I've already dealt with the likes of you." I respond in a light, easy going way. To show him I'm not scared of him. For how big Emmett is, I think Paul's almost as wide as him now.

Immediately the effects I wanted sink in and Emmett bursts with laughter, no doubt at me.

"Yeah I think you've gone delusional." He's still laughing, and I punch him in the arm. Already knowing it'll hurt me more than him.

As we pull around the corner, the house comes into view. The massive, white mansion comes into view. The clearing around the house is evident with fresh mowed grass, while at the perimeter, bushes, longer grass, and trees, slowly become more wild as you look farther out. The front door is made up of mostly glass, like most of the rest of the house. A porch wraps around the house, extending to the back side of the house overlooking the river that's a ways out.

Emmett grabs me and hurries me up to the door. Almost a little too fast, he might be more comfortable to be himself around me, now that I'm aware of his… species and capabilities that accompany it. Not that I know any of them. I'm sure speed is one of them.

I slow down as I get to the door, while Emmett barrels through, being more graceful than a ballerina.

The place has hardly changed, in the last few months. I can see a few changes alice has made with the decorations, other than that the same elegant style is held through the house. Modern sheek, from the rugs to the wall paintings.

Emmett has disappeared upstairs. I walk in the living room, a cream colored couch is to my left, with an adjacent coffee table. To my my right, a large, flat screen TV is centered on the wall. All along the far wall are floor to ceiling windows overlooking the forest. Up against the windows is a black grand piano.

I run my fingers along the keys. It's been a long time since I've played on a piano of this magnitude.

"Hello." I jump, turning around to face the way I came, from the unexpected presence. A quiet gesture is spoken behind me.

When I circle around I find Esme, as beautiful as ever across the room with Emmett.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean you frighten you." She looks worried, with her eyebrows pulled together.

"No, I was just looking around, I wasn't expecting you!" I make my way to her. Her motherly worry, and unquenchable kindness make me feel right at home instantly.

She seems to not be expecting my hug, but soon reciprocates.

"How are you, Esme? I've missed you." I question while still hugging her.

"I've been well, darling." As we release each other.

"Good. I see you've been keeping him out of trouble." I nudge playfully at Emmett.

"Whateverrr, sis."

"I try." Esme gives a warm smile. "What brings you here?"

"Today was the first day of school, and I missed you guys. Just came to hangout for a bit… If it's no problem." I add incase there is a problem. Esme's way to kind to ever go about anything that could hurt someone's feelings.

"No problem at all." Another welcoming smile.

Emmett and I play video games for about an hour, while the rest of the cullens make their way in to say hello.

Surprisingly, nothing is brought up during any of the Cullen's brief 'hello''s and 'nice to see you''s. Everyone seems to be as normal as can be like old times.

"Okay, you win! I give up!" My frustration is evident as I lay back on the couch dropping to controller. Emmett starts laughing, bragging about his 50th win in a row.

"Whatever, it's only because you have better reflexes." I say.

"That's for sure." As he gloats he turns toward the door, right before it's opened. I follow his gaze, and see Edward and Bella come through the door.

I immediately jump up without thinking, running over and bear hug Edward. I can't contain my excitement. His arms reach up and reciprocate the hug.

"Edward!" I swear tears come to my eyes. It has been so long. I didn't realize how much I have missed him and this place until now.

"Hey, Annie." With a small, genuine smile, Edward let me down to the floor. "It's nice to see you."

"I've missed you so much. How have you been?" As a step away from Edward, I see Bella off to his right standing by the door.

"Hey, Bells!" I go over to her and give her a big hug too. I see her quite often with our families being friends.

"Hey, Andie." Bella says sweetly.

"So what's been up lately, I haven't been over in forever. And now since I don't go to school with you guys I never see you guys." I say sadly.

"We've been well. How's your new school?" Edward says has he makes his way through the room.


	4. Chapter 4

After about an hour of talking and catching up, Edward motions me out to the back porch after we say goodbye to Bella as she headed home.

I follow Edward past the piano out to the back porch. The sun is setting making the woods darken, while the sky turns a pretty orange. It's a beautiful night.

I look up at Edward, knowing the conversation we need to have is why we're out here.

To my surprise, Edward's mouth curls up. "You're always right, did you know that?"

"What do you mean?" I'm curious as to what he means.

"What you were just thinking. Why I asked you out here."

My jaw probably fell to the floor. How the hell did he know that? "W-w-hat? How'd you know that?"

"It's because of what I am." He says softly.

I remain quiet as I take in the information. What does that mean?

"Some of us have gifts. Mine is reading minds." He says in response to my thoughts.

He can really read minds, huh? I never realized there's so much to this world. But then again I don't know much about it to begin with. It's not much of a shock anymore. I've been involved with the supernatural world for quite some time now.

We talked about everything long after the sunset passed the horizon. By the end of the conversation, I knew everything. Including why he didn't want me to be in this part of his life. It was never about not wanting me to be his friend anymore. He didn't want my family life to suffer only because he was in my life. I had to add that that wasn't the case. Edward is always so pessimistic towards himself.

He's always known how hard my life can get when it comes to my family. He never wanted to make it harder, I'll give him that. I finally understood why. But I told him that it didn't matter and it won't make it worse. He probably doesn't think so, but he read how sure my thoughts were. He finally agreed that it would be okay to still come over. Him coming over was never an option with the treaty and all.

"We better get you home, its late." _Oh, crap._

"I totally forgot, oh no! I need to check my phone." I ran inside to get my phone off the coffee table. Two missed calls from Mom and 17 missed calls from Paul and 5 texts. _Ugh,_ I don't want to deal with this right now.

"Yeah, I should head home."

"I can drive you to the treaty line. He'll be waiting there." Edwards offered.

The drive was quiet, we listened to our favorite composers on the way.

"Hey, Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you, like, listen to everyone's thoughts all the time or?" I'm not sure how to word it exactly but he'll get it.

A soft chuckle fills the car, "I can hear anyone's thoughts that's around me at anytime. If I don't focus on any one mind at a time, the thoughts are a little buzz in the background."

"Hmm." was all I said.

This is all a lot to process. He's known every thought that's been through my head around him. Every single thing. _Oh my god.._

All the fights, the bad times, the embarrassing moments that are supposed to be private, the crushes, the crush I thought I had on him when I first met him…

"Annie, take a deep breath." A cold hand rests on my shoulder. My shoulders

are going up and down fast. I can't get ahold of my breathing. Everything is catching up to me in this moment. Everything in my life is a mess. I look around, we are now stopped on the side of the road outside of town.

The cold, stoney hand on my shoulder pulls me forward. My face meets his hard body. I don't know how long we sit there like that; his arms around me stroking my back, my face against his chest.

I get into moods where I get lost in my mind, and shut down. Edward has always been there for me during these times. Now I know why he's always been so good in these situations for me, he gets what's happening inside. Not many people can see that something's wrong, when I have a smile on my face. Its comfortable being vulnerable with edward. Maybe it's from his vamp survival skills, that draws me in or just him being such an important person to me. He just gets it, and never makes me feel weird or bad about it.

"Do you remember when we first met, when I gave you my nickname for you?" He asks, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"Yeah." My voice is nothing above a whisper.

…

The first day we met was the first day of school of freshman year for me. I was playing the moonlight sonata in the band room on the piano, when he came in. I didn't notice he had came in when he did, so when I finished the piece, and got up to leave, he scared the shit out of me.

"AHH." I small scream escaped my lips. I grabbed my chest, "Sorry, I didn't see you there." I looked up to the figure leaning against the back wall. The light casted on half his face. He seemed to be concentrating on me. The eye in the light was a bright, honey color.

"No, it's my apologies. I heard you playing. You're very talented, playing beethoven." His voice was stunningly smooth. His english was impeccable.

"Thank you." A gentle smile crossed my face. Not a lot of people complement the most important aspect of my life. "Do you play? I'm guessing since you knew that song."

He pushed away from the wall in one smooth motion. "Yes, I do. Let me introduce myself, I'm Edward Cullen." He came up in front of me, stretching out his hand towards me.

I graciously take his hand, noticing how chilly they are. He must be like me, my hands and feet are always cold. "Hello, I'm Andie." With a shy smile.

"Is that your real name?" He asks, letting go of my hand.

"No, it's a nickname." I think of the time Jake and I learning to talk, and he couldn't say my name and accidently said Andie instead. Its stuck ever since.

Edward doesn't add anything, maybe he wants to know my real name? "My full name is Aiyana. My best friend gave me the nickname when we were kids, now everyone calls me it." I add.

"I wonder how he said Andie instead of Annie, it's more like your name." hmm, I never wondered about that. I'm surprised at his inquiry. "Can I call you Annie?" I may have been surprised at his question, but I was even more surprised at my answer. "Sure."

…

"Do you want to know why I wanted to give you a nickname?" He interupts my thoughts.

I nod my head against his chest.

"When I heard you playing I had to see who it was, you were incredible. After seeing you, I couldn't believe that much talent was in a young girl. Then, I heard your thoughts. You have one of the kindest minds I've ever come into contact with. When I asked for your name, and read all the thoughts about Jacob, I wanted that. I wanted someone to care about me the way you do for Jacob." The atmosphere in the car shifted. Edward never has explained anything to me. We always had a silent understanding of knowing. I never thought I could make that kind of an impact on someone, let alone anyone like Edward. Someone so kind and selfless, thinking that of me?

"Its true, Annie. Your thoughts are not something to be embarrassed about." He gives me a little squeeze, and I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly.

"Thank you, Edward." I sit up in my seat and wipe my cheeks. I plaster a smile on my face and look to Edward.

He looks serene, but cracks a small smirk when I look at him. Giggles start bubbling out of me. "I'm kind of a mess." I say through giggles.

With that Edward chuckles, "Let's get you home." and starts the car.

It's late when I get home. I walked the rest of the way home from the treaty line, where Edward hesitantly dropped me off.

The lights are on so I know people are up. I head for the stairs trying to avoid any altercation. But right as I turn the corner I here heavy steps, and a gruff voice yell, "Where the hell have you been?"

I turn around, answering "I went into town to see some friends."

"I told you not to go there anymore!" I swear he's going to have an aneurysm one of these days with how mad he gets.

"You don't even know where I was." I cross my arms.

"Of course I do! You fucking reek of leech!" The yelling is ringing in my ears.

My mom comes in yelling, at who I'm not sure. It's a mix of yelling at Paul for yelling, and at me for going against her rule. Paul and my mom are now fighting. I don't hear about what, I've already tuned out. Mom keeps yelling at me, when I try to go to my room. So I'm stuck at the top of the stairs, being present only physically. My mind goes a little blank during these times. My mom and brother are hot heads, that clash more often than not. I'm used to the bickering, it has never phased me much. Other than making me more quiet. Then again, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

"Am I in the wrong here?" My mom looks up at me.

I shrug my shoulders, I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying.

"Don't just shrug your shoulders like that! I'M TIRED OF IT!"

Most people would think I would say something back, I don't. There's no reason. It will only last longer.

"Tell her she's being fucking crazy, Andie!" Paul yells back, with veins popping out of his neck. I don't reply again.

My mom flies toward Paul, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She's seething.

Paul starts to shake, fist clenched by his sides.

I scoot down a step, "Paul, leave for a little, calm down."

He looks up at me, "You never take my side." he says through clenched teeth.

With that he leaves out the back door, and I turn up the stairs towards my room. My mom keeps coming in and out of my room yelling about god knows what.

"I'm just trying to get ready for bed, can we talk about it later." I'm really starting to feel tired and over this stupid fight.

She keeps being persistent in and out, in and out. Going into a rampage of her own. It's not going to stop anytime soon.

I quickly decide to leave for the night. I grab my bag and leave through my window to escape into the night air. I'm walking alongside the road with the forest hanging well above my head. I can smell the salt in the air from the ocean from the tide coming in. Instead of mom's pies and cakes smells making me feel at home like many others, mine is the beach and ocean. My native roots has created my love for the nature around me. My family is very known among the tribe. The Lahote name has been in the tribe for 100's of years being one of the original families. That's why I've been an easy target for my peers. I was a very known member of the tribe deciding to go to the white people school, you can see how that went.

As time has gone by our traditions and culture is slowing being forgotten about by the younger generations. Naturally people gravitate towards more modern living in any culture. I'm still one of the girls in my grade class that participates in pow wows and traditional dance. At first it was because my mom forced me at the age of 5. Sue and Sarah put their daughters in it too, my mom wanted me to be apart of it. I hated it at first, but it's now a very big part of my life. The elders also love seeing the younger kids keeping the traditions alive.

I spot the little red house peeking out of the trees along the road. A gravel, dirt roads leads to the house from the road. The yard is big and goes far behind the house. From the salt in the air the red is faded and blotchy in places. To the right side of the house Jake's garage sits.

Whenever I have bad days or nights, I always go to Jake's. Since I was a little girl I would have sleepovers at the Black's. It used to be from our families being really close, now it's because Jake's my best friend. Rachel and Rebecca were always my closest friends as kids. Being a few years younger than them, I was left behind when they started growing up. That's when Jake and I got really close since we're the same age. Our parents don't freak out about it since it's always been this way.

I walk to the backside of the house to Knock on Jake's window. I hear a thump and then a head pop up in the window. Black hair is everywhere and his eyes are droopy. Oops, it must be late. Oh well, he never cares. He saw that it was me and quickly opened the window.

"Hey," he said through a long yawn. When he fully opened his eyes, his eyes trailed my my puffy face and red rimmed eyes. "Bad night?" He said while he gestured me to come in.

"Yeah." I say as I climb through the window. I don't need to climb through the window, billy doesn't care if I stay over. It's been our thing ever since I can remember so I'm not going to change it now.

"What happened?" He says while grabbing my hand while I jump onto his floor. His hands are rough from working, but are gentle.

"I-" What do I say? I went over to my bloodsucking bffs house, and pissed off my werewolf brother. Jake will know the truth eventually but he can't know now. "Paul and I got into a fight about him hanging out with Sam so much." I hate lying to Jake. This was a good half truth, I told myself.

"What's up with that anyways? Paul and Jared Cameron follow him around everywhere now. People are starting to say their in some kind of gang." His brows furrowed, in what looked like concentration and confusion.

I never know what to say to these questions. I want to defend them since what they're doing is good and out of their control. Then again, there's no way of doing that without telling the truth.

"I'm not sure why they started hanging out." I say nonchalantly. Jake sleepily shakes his head. Paul and Jared have always been friends throughout school that's not surprising they're hanging out. What's got everyone so confused is why they're hanging out with Sam who graduated 2 years ago.

"Want to watch a movie or something?" He says while walking through his tiny room to his bedroom door.

"Yeah, sure." I head to the living room behind Jake. As we get to the living room he continues into the kitchen, while I go to check out which movie to watch.

"What are you feeling?" I call out. I grab two movies and get up. When I get to the kitchen I lean around the wall. I see Jake working away at two sandwiches with a pint of ice cream and bowls ready. Our usual.

"Avatar or lord of the rings?" I say with a smile spread across my face. I already was feeling better. That's why I come over here when I'm having a bad day, how can you stay in a sad mood with your best friend and food?  
Looking more awake, Jake stopped what he was doing with the sandwiches, to look up at me, "hmm," he said before, "Avatar. We haven't seen that in awhile."

About an hour into the movie, the sandwiches and ice cream are gone. Jake lay on the other end of the couch passed out with a small snore.  
A wave of gratitude flows through me. He will never understand how much better he makes me feel. I look back at how terrible today was, somehow it's no longer a bad day. Jake has this uplifting spirit that never seems to fail in making me happy. He knows exactly what to do without trying.

The next morning I wake up to billy saying, "Wake up kids. Schools in an hour." I groggily open my eyes to the now bright living room. Jake is still asleep on the other side of the couch, our feet by each others heads. His long, silky, black hair in all different directions.

I slowly get up to the smell of bacon wafting through the house. "Wake up, Jake." I shake his arm. He just turns over into the couch. He is so hard to wake up, always has, always will be.

I walk into the kitchen. Billy's at the stove taking the food off the burners. "Morning Billy." I say as I open the fridge to get a glass of orange juice.

"Mornin'. Jake still asleep?"

"Yeah." I chuckled.

"I swear that boy'd sleep through a hurricane." He said shaking his head. "Want some breakfast?" He looked up at me from his chair with a fatherly smile.

Hey, everyone! I know it's been awhile :( I still plan on finishing this story, I hope you like it. Lets get it up to 5 reviews!


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